In 2019, WineDirect launched our inaugural DTC Sales Report. It is the largest repository of data in the industry and is based solely on transactional data from wineries in the US, Canada and Australia. The transactional data includes actual sales data from wineries on the WineDirect platform, rather than survey data, enabling you to more accurately benchmark your performance and identify opportunity areas.
These key insights identify trends that allow you to gauge yourself among your peers with the end goal of improving your DTC program. Today, we are taking a deeper dive into our data to really understand what’s going on in Australia. Our data includes wineries from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, with the majority located in South Australia. Please note that all dollar values are reported in local currency. Let’s dig in!
Overall, point of sale (POS) transactions make up the largest share of DTC revenue in Australia (56%), which is significantly larger than the US and Canada, and reflects the importance of the cellar door. Meanwhile, wine club sales are less important in Australia than other regions at only 22% versus 37% in the US and 31% in Canada. This suggests there is still a lot of room for club growth.
Online orders account for the smallest share (10%). Despite the low volume, website orders represent the channel with the most potential future upside due to their high average order value (AOV) - see below for more details.
The rest of the revenue is made up of telesales, corporate orders, some private tastings and any order manually input on the backend by a winery employee, all included in the Other category.
It’s interesting that although POS sales account for the most DTC revenue in Australia, it also has the lowest AOV at $115 per order. The volume of cellar door visitors drives up the revenue dollars, but each transaction is relatively small. This trend is mirrored in other countries as well.
Although website orders are the lowest revenue source for Australian wineries, they have the most potential with the highest AOV at a whopping $268 per order. Wine club members stay a reliable source of revenue and AOV with each order averaging $237 per order, similar to the US and Canada.
On a global scale, Australia has smaller clubs, compared to other wine regions internationally. A whopping 80% of wine clubs in Australia have fewer than 1,000 members, with the average number sitting at 677 club members. This suggests that wine clubs have a lot of room to grow.
Cellar door sales are seasonal in Australia, with a spike in the summer tourist season. A full 31% of cellar door sales occur between November and January inclusive.
A great way to keep sales rolling in the winter months is to focus on driving online sales. By collecting email addresses in the cellar door during the summer, you can then offer favourite wines, bundles and special offers a lot easier as you already have a relationship with these past purchasers. All you need to do is send an email with a special offers and invite them in to shop your wine store - online!
Numbers are interesting, but what’s most important is what you do with them. Here are our top takeaways for actions you can take to improve your winery’s DTC sales as we chip away at 2020:
1. Email is the best way to drive online sales - and the cellar door is the best place to collect email addresses!
2. Send emails at least once a month
3. Remember that most emails are read on a mobile device
4. Vary your content and don’t always be asking for the sale
1. Most clubs are still very small
2. There is a lot of room to grow!
3. How are you differentiating your club from others?
4. Are you effectively selling it in the cellar door and online?
Download your copy of the full 2019 DTC Sales Report now for key insights to apply to your DTC business. Fill out the form on the right and receive your free copy today.
